Creative Nassau President, Pam Burnside and Vice President, Patricia Glinton-Meicholas, along with Gevon Moss of the Downtown Nassau Partnership were honoured to represent the City of Nassau at the recent UNESCO Creative Cities Network 10th Annual Meeting in Östersund, Sweden (a UCCN City of Gastronomy) this month.
CN Mayor, Gevon Moss of the Downtown Nassau Partnership joins Patti and Pam at the Island FM 102.9 Radio Station to talk about their trip to Östersund, Sweden for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network's Xth Annual Meeting
The UCCN now numbers 116 cities from 54 countries, and the Annual Meeting offers a unique opportunity to strengthen ties between the cities, to dialogue and exchange information, to formulate partnerships, and to determine and implement Network objectives, strategies and operations. The event took place over a period of a jam-packed week of activities which began with a three-day pre-Conference, at the Mid Sweden University which focused on Sustainability. Roland Krebs, Consultant for the IDB's Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ESCI) and the Nassau Urban Lab study, joined the team to make a presentation based on the recent plan prepared for the Bahamian government's National Development Plan for Downtown Bay Street and the Grants/Bain Town areas in Nassau, a project that was developed in conjunction with the consultants along with Bahamian stakeholders, civil society groups including Creative Nassau, and architecture students from the University of Vienna and the College of The Bahamas.
The following days were taken up with the UCCN's extensive Meeting Agenda, including several sessions hosted by author, Charles Landry, well known for his various books dealing with the concept of 'Creative Cities', and visits to various venues in the Ostersund and Jamtland areas where delegates were treated to exciting samples of Swedish art, culture, heritage, and gastronomical delights!
Following the UCCN Conference, Pam and Patti traveled to Vienna to visit with Mr Krebs and several of the Vienna University students and also to meet with an urban planning organization that oversees an area of Vienna city, who shared his expertise in the programme.
The 2017 Annual Meeting will be held in Enghien les Bains in France.
For more information about the Conference and the UNESCO Creative Cities Network log on to the website http://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/home